1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a medical treatment apparatus to be attached to the skin for regaining health, and more particularly to a skin-contact type medical treatment apparatus effective in the treatment of unidentified complaint syndrome such as muscular stiffness.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a domestic treatment apparatus for alleviating muscular stiffness or aches of the shoulders or other parts of the body, there have so far been proposed ion-permeating devices for curing muscular or nervous fatigue by imparting, to the skin, electric stimulation brought about by electromotive force generated by a biogalvanic battery formed with the application of a weak direct current to the body (cf. Japanese Patent Publication Gazettes Nos. SHO 61-55979, SHO 61-55980 and SHO 62-32944, and Japanese Utility Model Publication Gazette No. 3-50927).
The ion-permeating device described above is used in such a manner that a semiconducting crystal electrode and a metal electrode higher in standard single-electrode potential than the semiconducting crystal electrode are electrically connected to each other and brought into contact with the skin. The ion-permeating device enables muscular and nervous tissues to be continuously stimulated with electromotive force stably imparted to the skin through the electrodes without embrittling the electrodes during prolonged use. The ion-permeating device can achieve remarkably practical effects of treating the stiffness and aches in the body parts.
It seems that the function of alleviating such stiffness and aches in the body is fulfilled by electric stimulation caused by the biogalvanic battery. Thus, it is obvious that the medical effect of the ion-permeating device can be increased by enlarging the current from the biogalvanic battery.
However, when the muscular and nervous tissues are physiologically activated by the biogalvanic battery, impedance in the skin between the electrodes of the biogalvanic battery is remarkably decreased. As a result, the current flowing in the skin is increased in quantity to impart an excessive stimulation to the skin tissues, thus possibly suffering skin damages.
For solving such a problem, there is proposed a skin-contact type medical treatment apparatus as shown in FIG. 6, in which a first element 11 serving as a metal positive electrode and a second element 12 serving as a semiconductor negative electrode are electrically connected through a protective resistance element 13 (Japanese Patent Appln. Public Disclosure No. HEI 8-173554(A)).
Now, the prior art skin-contact type medical treatment apparatus mentioned above will described in further detail with reference to FIG. 6.
The first element 11 which is provided at its center with a protrusion is formed by plating a disk of copper with gold. This first element functions as a positive electrode of the biogalvanic battery when being in contact with the skin. The second element 12 is made by oxidizing the surface of a zinc annular plate having a center hole so as form an n-type semiconductor of zinc oxide. This second element functions as a negative electrode when being in contact with the skin. The protective resistance element 13 is made in such a manner that epoxy synthetic resin having carbon powder dispersed therein is uniformly applied to the surface (upper side in FIG. 6) of the first element 11 and dried to be formed into a resistance membrane. The protective resistance element 13 is adhered to the upper surface of the second element 12. An external circuit acting as the biogalvanic battery of the skin-contact type medical treatment apparatus is electrically connected to the protective resistance element 13. In the drawing, reference numeral 17 denotes adhesive cloth, and 18 denotes the skin.
Next, a method of producing the skin-contact type medical treatment apparatus will be explained.
First, the epoxy synthetic resin as the ingredient of the protective resistance element 13 is uniformly applied to the flat upper surface of the disk-shaped first element 11, and then, the second element 12 is placed on the flat upper surface of the first element before the epoxy synthetic resin becomes completely dry. Consequently, the first element 11 and second element 12 are superposed upon each other with the protective resistance element 13 interposed therebetween, with the center protrusion of the first element protruding upward through the center hole in the second element.
While the conventional skin-contact type medical treatment apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 brings about the intended effect of treating unidentified complaint syndrome such as shoulder or muscular stiffness and lumbago, it is necessary to uniformly apply epoxy synthetic resin to form the protective resistance element in the manufacturing process. The work of producing the conventional apparatus requires not only much skills in uniformly applying the epoxy synthetic resin, but also much time and labor. Furthermore, the conventional apparatus is disadvantageous in that the method of manufacturing the apparatus becomes complicated, because of the processes of putting the second element on the first element and then drying the epoxy synthetic resin applied to the first element. Accordingly, the conventional apparatus entails the aforenoted serious problems so that the medical treatment apparatus can be mass-produced uniformly in quality at a low cost with high efficiency.